The Portugal international became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer on Saturday as los Blancos cruised to a 3-0 win that takes them top of the table

Rafael Benitez has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance in the wake of Real Madrid’s 3-0 La Liga win over Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Portugal international played a key role in Saturday’s encounter as he set up Marcelo for Madrid’s first goal, before netting their second just minutes later to become the capital club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Jese eventually made it three after the break and Benitez was quick to acknowledge Ronaldo’s contribution, praising the 30-year-old for carrying his team to victory with a number of other senior players ruled out.

“Cristiano had to step up and take his responsibility, showing the team the way and he did just that,” the former Napoli boss said at a news conference.

“We were missing a lot of players, but he carried the team.”

Benitez replaced Gareth Bale with Lucas Vazquez at half-time, but Benitez played down fears the Wales international had suffered another problem.

“I did not take Bale off because of some injury,” said Benitez. “He just needed some rest after an intense week with Wales.”